If this show was screened by a room full of writers like (Genius) Aaron Sorkin, editors like Pietro Scalia, cinematographers like Wally Pfister, casting directors like Margery Simkin, and the like, the consensus would have been a resounding, "NO!" The fact that this show even made it on air indicates that NBC was informed by the studio that it would absorb a certain episode-count risk/cost that would normally be shared and incurred by the network. Plus the creators of the show must have done a great job of strong-arming the people who would have prevented such a debacle from making it into the NBC network lineup.
Shows like Newsroom, White Collar, House of Lies, The Blacklist, House of Cards, The Good Wife, Suits, Game of Thrones, Halt and Catch Fire, The Last Ship, Gotham, Extant, and so many more are on air because the writing is spectacular, the ability to convince the audience is present either in storytelling, building a characters role, plot-building, bringing a ridiculous level of coherence to the story, and most importantly the creators of these shows understand that the audience are intellectuals in politics, law, business, consulting, technology, information security, the military, comics, science, astronomy, and so forth. When a show like State of Affairs thinks that it can get away with putting together the "Corporate TV Studio Formula" for network success and doesn't do a decent job of tying up loose ends, the critics/reviewers will line up to bring the show to a halt.
Since many of the other reviewers have already provided specifics of why certain elements don't work it is best to describe the show as such:
Watching this show is much like meeting an arrogant punk who thinks he/she is a world-class athlete or musician, but truly hasn't developed his/her craft enough to be able to compete on the world-stage to "run with the best of them". The truly annoying part is that he/she will keep insinuating that "He/she has competed and won on the world stage before", and in the back of one's mind one can only conclude, "No, not really. You're not ready yet. (Not for a serious plot/show/story/role)". A message I like to send to the creators of State of Affairs: In 2014, there are numerous amount of shows that outpace State of Affairs, that have tons of gas in the tank to push into full gear if they need to, they have put in thousands upon thousands of hours of their blood and sweat into their shows even though their creators are geniuses, and yet they still push to do better and get better. In other words, a junior-high school athlete cannot convince a pro-athlete coach or trainer that he/she is ready to compete at such a ridiculously high level. One has to put in the time to graduate and get to the ultimate stage of true professionalism or get an entire new staff of writers, an entire new cast, editors who can truly tie the story together so that the dialogue can be complimentary to the entire scheme of the story. Otherwise, taking a comedic-satirical approach may work with the current cast, and changing the storyline so that it doesn't feel like 2010.
Most importantly the writers need to understand the difference between screen writing for a TV show versus a Broadway play. Phrasing of words chosen for specific dialogue for shows in 2014 are written much like song lyrics which is why they are interesting to listen to when well executed by a well trained actor. Unfortunately, State of Affairs has no idea that there are certain dialogue phrasing standards to adhere to which is why it is much like hiring a tone-deaf, American-Idol reject to be one's songwriter. It won't work!
Shows like Newsroom, White Collar, House of Lies, The Blacklist, House of Cards, The Good Wife, Suits, Game of Thrones, Halt and Catch Fire, The Last Ship, Gotham, Extant, and so many more are on air because the writing is spectacular, the ability to convince the audience is present either in storytelling, building a characters role, plot-building, bringing a ridiculous level of coherence to the story, and most importantly the creators of these shows understand that the audience are intellectuals in politics, law, business, consulting, technology, information security, the military, comics, science, astronomy, and so forth. When a show like State of Affairs thinks that it can get away with putting together the "Corporate TV Studio Formula" for network success and doesn't do a decent job of tying up loose ends, the critics/reviewers will line up to bring the show to a halt.
Since many of the other reviewers have already provided specifics of why certain elements don't work it is best to describe the show as such:
Watching this show is much like meeting an arrogant punk who thinks he/she is a world-class athlete or musician, but truly hasn't developed his/her craft enough to be able to compete on the world-stage to "run with the best of them". The truly annoying part is that he/she will keep insinuating that "He/she has competed and won on the world stage before", and in the back of one's mind one can only conclude, "No, not really. You're not ready yet. (Not for a serious plot/show/story/role)". A message I like to send to the creators of State of Affairs: In 2014, there are numerous amount of shows that outpace State of Affairs, that have tons of gas in the tank to push into full gear if they need to, they have put in thousands upon thousands of hours of their blood and sweat into their shows even though their creators are geniuses, and yet they still push to do better and get better. In other words, a junior-high school athlete cannot convince a pro-athlete coach or trainer that he/she is ready to compete at such a ridiculously high level. One has to put in the time to graduate and get to the ultimate stage of true professionalism or get an entire new staff of writers, an entire new cast, editors who can truly tie the story together so that the dialogue can be complimentary to the entire scheme of the story. Otherwise, taking a comedic-satirical approach may work with the current cast, and changing the storyline so that it doesn't feel like 2010.
Most importantly the writers need to understand the difference between screen writing for a TV show versus a Broadway play. Phrasing of words chosen for specific dialogue for shows in 2014 are written much like song lyrics which is why they are interesting to listen to when well executed by a well trained actor. Unfortunately, State of Affairs has no idea that there are certain dialogue phrasing standards to adhere to which is why it is much like hiring a tone-deaf, American-Idol reject to be one's songwriter. It won't work!